When it's to zone 9.

Woke up at a friend's place in Wallington, near Croydon and far from the
Pays du PAYG. Wanted to go home to god's own Finsbury Park, then visit a
convalescing friend in Watford and then come home again. So, bought a Z1-9
travelcard.

I happily used to the ticket to take the Southern to Victoria, the Vic to
FP and back to Euston, and London Midland to Watford Junction - where the
ticket machine ate my travelcard. I asked a member of staff, who i think
was some sort of ticket inspector, and he asserted that this was right and
proper - apparently outside Z6, a travelcard is good for one trip inward
and one out. So it is not, as the name might suggest to the naive, a
travelcard.

I had a look through this charming booklet:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...d-junction.pdf

And there's no mention of this. It does suggest you read this:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...s-zones1-6.pdf

Which merrily chortles:

Travel as much as you like in one day using a Day Travelcard

And doesn't go on to qualify that with regards to Watford.

So, what gives? Where's the rule that says Watford gets to eat my ticket?
Where else am i at risk from surprise cartivory?

I assume what's happening is that a Z1-9 travelcard is actually a return
from BZ9 to Z1-6, much as you might buy a return from Chelmsford to Z1-6,
and as such, is only valid for a trip in from Z9 followed by a trip out,
as the fellow i spoke to indicated. In which case, it's a perfectly
consistent and legit product, but *is not a bloody travelcard*.

I imagine there have been threads about this here before, and i probably
should have paid attention. But i didn't. So, what are my chances of
getting Trading Standards to shut down the Z1-9 TC scam?

tom

--
Glass of water, glass of orange juice, cup of coffee, a spell on the
toilet (Guinness hangovers only), back to bed for a good cry. Fried
breakfast later. -- susumu, on curing hangovers

In article i,
(Tom Anderson) wrote:

When it's to zone 9.

Woke up at a friend's place in Wallington, near Croydon and far
from the Pays du PAYG. Wanted to go home to god's own Finsbury
Park, then visit a convalescing friend in Watford and then come
home again. So, bought a Z1-9 travelcard.

I happily used to the ticket to take the Southern to Victoria, the
Vic to FP and back to Euston, and London Midland to Watford
Junction - where the ticket machine ate my travelcard. I asked a
member of staff, who i think was some sort of ticket inspector, and
he asserted that this was right and proper - apparently outside Z6,
a travelcard is good for one trip inward and one out. So it is not,
as the name might suggest to the naive, a travelcard.

I had a look through this charming booklet:


http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...d-tickets-Zone
s-7-9-plus-watford-junction.pdf

And there's no mention of this. It does suggest you read this:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...s-zones1-6.pdf

Which merrily chortles:

Travel as much as you like in one day using a Day Travelcard

And doesn't go on to qualify that with regards to Watford.

So, what gives? Where's the rule that says Watford gets to eat my
ticket? Where else am i at risk from surprise cartivory?

I assume what's happening is that a Z1-9 travelcard is actually a
return from BZ9 to Z1-6, much as you might buy a return from
Chelmsford to Z1-6, and as such, is only valid for a trip in from
Z9 followed by a trip out, as the fellow i spoke to indicated. In
which case, it's a perfectly consistent and legit product, but *is
not a bloody travelcard*.

I imagine there have been threads about this here before, and i
probably should have paid attention. But i didn't. So, what are my
chances of getting Trading Standards to shut down the Z1-9 TC scam?

Isn't Watford Junction outside Zone 9? I thought it comprised just Chesham
and Amersham.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

wrote in message
...

Isn't Watford Junction outside Zone 9? I thought it comprised just Chesham
and Amersham.

Correct, nearly. Watford Junction is just outside Zone 8, because in that
area there is no Zone 9.

Paul S

On Sun, 8 Nov 2009, Paul Scott wrote:

wrote in message
...

Isn't Watford Junction outside Zone 9? I thought it comprised just Chesham
and Amersham.

Correct, nearly. Watford Junction is just outside Zone 8, because in that
area there is no Zone 9.

Huh. So should i actually have been excessed or something?

The chap at Wallington seemed to think a Z1-9 TC was the thing i wanted; i
suppose it's no great surprise that he wasn't immediately familiar with
the ins and outs of the rules.

tom

--
This sig kills fascists.

On Sun, 8 Nov 2009 22:08:28 +0000, Tom Anderson
wrote:

Huh. So should i actually have been excessed or something?

PFed, I guess, if a 1-9 ODTC is indeed what you had., as such a thing
isn't valid to Watford Junction.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

Neil Williams wrote:
PFed, I guess, if a 1-9 ODTC is indeed what you had., as such a thing
isn't valid to Watford Junction.

But the gate should have just said 'Seek assistance' in that case? It
wouldn't have eaten the ticket.

Theo

In article ,
(Paul Scott) wrote:

wrote in message
...

Isn't Watford Junction outside Zone 9? I thought it comprised just
Chesham and Amersham.

Correct, nearly. Watford Junction is just outside Zone 8, because
in that area there is no Zone 9.

So the OP's ticket was not valid for a journey to Watford Junction then?

--
Colin Rosenstiel

wrote in message
...
In article ,
(Paul Scott) wrote:

wrote in message
...

Isn't Watford Junction outside Zone 9? I thought it comprised just
Chesham and Amersham.

Correct, nearly. Watford Junction is just outside Zone 8, because
in that area there is no Zone 9.

So the OP's ticket was not valid for a journey to Watford Junction then?

AIUI from many previous discussions, you can apparently buy a normal
outboundary travelcard from Watford Junction TO zones 1-6, (not sure on
zones 1-9), but the leg from Watford Junction to 'the zones', although
short, is just like the leg from say Cambridge to the zones. So with an out
boundary travelcard from WJ you'd have your normal one jouney in and one
return, and if you started from within the zones with a normal Z1-6
travelcard you'd need an extension from BZ6 to WJ.

No idea if there even is such a thing as an extension from BZ8 - Watford
Junction though....

By the way - for those still wondering, have a look at the text in the
orange box next to WJ on the standard tube map - you can see why people
might expect it to be in Zone 9 though...

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...d-tube-map.pdf

Paul S

On Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:31:58 -0600,
wrote:

Isn't Watford Junction outside Zone 9?

It is. What I think the OP actually bought is a Watford Junction
outboundary Travelcard, which should indeed be eaten at the end.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

(Neil Williams) wrote in
:

On Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:31:58 -0600,
wrote:

Isn't Watford Junction outside Zone 9?

It is. What I think the OP actually bought is a Watford Junction
outboundary Travelcard, which should indeed be eaten at the end.

Neil


But outboundary travelcards should never be issued from within the zones,
and I wasn't previously aware that National Rail stations could issue Z1-9
either.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...s-and-tickets-
Zones-7-9-plus-watford-junction.pdf does quote prices for a "Day Travelcard
Z1-9 plus Watford Junction" but as it's £ 18.00 peak/£ 13.50 off-peak a
Boundary Z6-Watford Junction is often a better option anyway.

David